Distilling beer

[neil]

I have a few gallons of beer in the basement which is not all that pleasant to drink. So I was wandering if I could distill it and still get a great product out of it. Is that possible? Or would the hops mess up the taste in the final product?

[bearriver]

I enjoy hopped whiskeys. Of course there is more than one way to hop a whiskey.

Some folks claim that the hop oils present in will make a residue on the inside of the still that is not easy to remove. If you are prepared for that you can try it, but I wouldn't expect a great product.

If it's just average lager that has gone stale or skunky, then I wouldn't waste my time with it personally. If it was 4 or more gallons of a craft beer I really liked, then I'd think it is worth trying. YMMV

[still_stirrin]

Do it.

I got a 2 1/2 year old keg with old beer in it when I bought a kegerator. I planned to return the keg to the distributer, but first I emptied the old, sour beer into my boiler and it gave me a couple of gallons of 110 proof stripppings. Put on wood, it made a much better whiskey than it would've been worth dumping down the drain. If nothing else, it makes a cheap sacrificial run.

Free alcohol.....run it.
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[neil]

First of all, I am a little worried about the hop oils to. It would be nice to have some data on that subject to base my decision on whether I will or won’t run it. Second; it is a craft beer indeed. But I didn’t like it that much. Not that it has gone sour or anything. Just didn’t have the right fermentation temperature or final gravity I was hoping for. In total, the batch is 6 gallons. Mostly lager beers with 5%abv.

[panikry83]

I have a case of beer that's really disgusting is there a way that I can put it through my stillr and get anything good out of it

[still_stirrin]

Go ahead and worry....or not...and run it. I've run beer before...have you?

Its up to you...but this horse is dead.
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[neil]

Go ahead and worry....or not...and run it. I've run beer before...have you?

Its up to you...but this horse is dead.
ss

Any thoughts about the hop oil residu?

[still_stirrin]

Go ahead and worry....or not...and run it. I've run beer before...have you?

Its up to you...but this horse is dead.
ss

Any thoughts about the hop oil residu?

I think hop (oil residue) is overrated. Its stinky and tastes like bitter acid.

There....my thoughts.
ss

p.s. - you can quit beating this "dead horse" anytime now.

[humbledore]

No you won't get any hops residue. That is a crock. I have done it multiple times. However it will not be the best product, especially if it is heavily hopped. If you don't like the taste of it, how do you think it will taste concentrated? But it's up to you, may be good practice if nothing else.

[still_stirrin]

neil,

Lets put it this way...If you dump your beers down the drain, then you'll never know what could become of them since you're not going to drink the beers. But if you run them, maybe you'll get something off the still that you like (better than the beers).

And as far as the hops, you will learn something "the tried & true" way...experince.

Now, I'm not advocating brewing IPA's only to run them through the still because you want to see what the outcome will be. But you said that you don't like the beers you've got in the basement. So, rather than dump them (which you can do if you want to)...run them.

Its just like humbledore said, you may not think its the best product...but you may be surprised what you do get out.
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[rager]

i say run it. and report back with your findings. ive only ever read about the "hop oils" contaminating a still , but never read about anyone actually running the beer and reporting back with the findings.

after running the beer , strip something else and see if you get any " hop oils" in the next run. or any weird off tasting shit.

it will be good info for all

[yakattack]

And just a thought, if you don't like the wiskey, put it in the feints jug to run I. A reflux for neutral. That way you are still getting the etho from it.

Nothing ventured nothing gained.

[neil]

Thanks you guys, I'm going to run it and report back to you. I'm planning to do a quick striprun so I won't get to much off flavours with it. Maybe I can mix it with a spirit run later to delute any off tastes.
You'll hear from me again.

[still_stirrin]

Thanks you guys, I'm going to run it and report back to you. I'm planning to do a quick striprun so I won't get to much off flavours with it. Maybe I can mix it with a spirit run later to delute any off tastes.
You'll hear from me again.

Remember neil, the pot still with quick strip runs carries over the most flavor, not the least. But a strip is good at least to see if you can use it.

I'd probably not run it with anything I was trying to make into a neutral. Rather, I'd aim for a whiskey...which will be fine. I've done this before...taking a couple of cases of contest beers (a mix of who knows what) and stripping it. And then running a spirit run for whiskey, also through the pot still. Put on wood, it made a very nice whiskey.

But then again, this is what I said waaaaaay up front in your post.
ss

[still_stirrin]

Also a corollary thought....when you make a gin, you macerate botanicals in a neutral spirit and then run a 3rd distillation through the pot to clear it and set the flavors. The 3rd run (pot still) does carry over herbs and roots and even the citrus character. But the pot still, when rinsed after the run does not retain the essence of the botanicals. If it were to be run through a reflux column, I'd suspect the oils and such would be caught and bound up in the packing system. So, run the low wines, or neutral back through....the pot still.

If you don't have a pot still head for your boiler...then off to the big box store and build yourself one very quickly. You definitely need a pot still as a part of your arsenal. Personally, I have both a pot head and a LM/VM reflux column/head for my main boiler. Then, I've added a 3rd distillation (stock pot) boiler with a pot still head purposely for running botanicals and triple distilling vodkas, flavored or neutral. Think...."right tool for the job"...and "buy (build) once and cry once".

Bottomline here is that those beers you have in the basement will be good for SOMETHING besides dumping down the drain.
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[neil]

Better late than never but here’s my feedback as promised. I ran the beer, 15 gallons in total. After the first run I had almost 3 gallons of 82 proof strippings. The smell was exceptionally fruity due to the couple of APA’s I dumped in. I was actually surprised how nice the hops tastes were. Because I had a neutral spirit in mind this time, I ran it three times and it came out totally neutral with no off flavors at 160 proof. Not bad for wasted beer. I will do this more often when I have some surplus batch of beer.
Thanks for all the tips.

[scuba stiller]

Thanks for the follow-up. Glad to hear it came out well.
SS